received the smsl do 200 mkII today. Bought after watching your review. The sound is exactly as you described! This is the perfect dac for my system. (Monitor audio Silver 6 , Marantz PM8006). thank you very much for your videos, certainly the best on youtube. good evening !

Привет. По рекомендации с этого видео я заказал SMSL SU-10 и вчера я получил его с доставкой. С первого включения звук произошёл все мои ожидания. Очень чистый, детализированный и густой звук. Я начал переслушать свою музыкальную библиотеку и с первой песни я просто начал слушать не перематывая на следующую от радости прослушивания. ЦАП стоит своих денег и за такое качество звучания как у него это очень выгодное предложение. Я слушал в живую и Gustard R26. Да у него конечно другой уровень но он и дороже стоит. Так что спасибо тебе большое что я нашел твой обзор на этот замечательный ЦАП. Я очень доволен покупкой.

Due to my respect for your comments and evaluations, it has led me to purchase the SMSL SU 10 . I am not disappointed. Thank you for your detailed information regarding the description of the unit and more importantly, the sound. Your videos are first rate and thank goodness without the drama and guru persona that is so common with audiophile presenters. So. THANK YOU 🤗

Thank you, as always, for this valuable, in-depth evaluation and opinion. Your insights and perceptions are always very helpful. I would love to see you review the Geshelli AKM DAC.

Another great review! Can't think of another reviewer on KZfaq who matches your ability to go this in depth when it comes to sound descriptions. Well done! Hi-end DACs like the Gustard and others make sense if the rest of your system is on a level that would be able to resolve and capitalize on all those minute differences and subtleties. If not, just don't bother. Spending more money on speakers first would be a better idea.

I have similar trauma remembering my aunt with her plastic seat and sofa covers which kept her furniture new for guests but she never had guests other than family and they never came off because we weren't "guests".Guess that's why I am still in therapy 40 years latter

I just want to thank you for another fantastic video! You seem to be really enjoying yourself - brilliant! 😁😁

Great review...if the SU-1 sounds great already, I can only imagine the stellar improvement the SU-10 has...btw, Laura Marling's recording LUMP is first rate, very lush, full, and full of instrumentations

I enjoyed the review of the SU-10 very much, but it is a bit over my price limit. So I'm hoping your new favorite sub $500 dac is the SU-9 pro! I hope you review it soon!

Excellent components. I had the AS1200 and love it now I’m rocking the Musical Fidelity M5SI and I’m now I’m a believer of the brand.

your dac and amp reviews 100% achieve to paint a picture of how a device sounds just buy talking about it. hope things are going well for you and we will see many more reviews in the future!

Please enable subtitles in the settings.Everything you say is very valuable to us.

Thanks!

U are such a good talker. Listening to yr talk abt various dacs is just a fun.

RME ADI 2 FS is first DAC I’ve heard where pre-amp section was brilliant. Usually DAC preamps are thin, two dimensional, and lack texture and body…basically the opposite of musical 🎵

I was playing with pcm filters and felt that the soundstage really opens up with "fast minimum"

Now let's hope SMSL have upped their QC too. I had 2 SU-9 DACS that broke down, one of them practically DOA, the second one after one year. Which was totally annoying, because I really liked the SU-9 sound....

Digging my Tradutto, Thanks. Cool runnings

I've started keeping up with this channel just for the music recommendations. Don't even need to buy anything right now

Please produce a video comparing the SU-10 and the Gustard X26. Your approach is enjoyably balanced & organic: neither qualitatively sterile nor subjectively wishy-washy. Молодец! (Добро урађено)

Merry Christmas!

Tack!

Another great vid my man. You truly have golden ears. I can’t come anywhere close to catching as much details in A/B testing as you can. I bought the SU9 and DA9 stack for my office nearfield use cos of you. Matched that with Spektor2s and REL T0. Mostly Spotify music via Ifi Stream. Pretty happy with that. Don’t think my ears can handle much more details than that. Unless you can recommend a suitable nearfield speaker upgrade to this set-up.

There's two more new dacs from SMSL..D400 es and D400ex.. Love to see your reviews on these two.. Highly enjoy your excellent, honest reviews.....

Thoroughly enjoy your Content, Narrative and Humor. "Gives Me Chills", 🤣 that was Classic🤙

best description I‘ve ever heard. Hopefully it is correct. I will order one. I was afraid of the analytic, cold sound of the ESSs….

The refreshing rate from chinese dacs is incredible these days 😱 with Gustard A26 and SMSL D400EX(S) still on their way 😅

Excellent review. Would be great to hear you review Musician Aquarius!

excellent review as always

SMSL D300 review helped me make decision on purching in hope for improving my old musics from CDs and I am glad i made the purchase. I can now enjoy the old CDs more. Thank you.

Very entertaining. Great to see your sense of humor come through. There’s a Dac here in the US I wish you could get your hands on called Geshelli J2. Its quite impressive for $250 if you don’t need a USB input. It’s US made and I think they have some kind of restriction selling in the EU so you may not have access. I’m continuously impressed with your mastery of English. Especially with the different characters for the alphabet. Bravo.

I wonder if the M500 MKIII comes a bit closer. It has a similar opamp implementation 9 instead of 3 in the MKII This is because it is using all 8 channels of the chip. Of course the SU 10 has a better power supply and uses two DAC chips. My MkIII arrived today.

SRBOLJUB , the budget can’t support your channel …BUT I CAN … Have a great day.🤗💚💚💚

How does the SU-10 compare to the Chord Mojo 2?

Thanks for your insights.

Does anyone have or own SMSL su 9 and su 10? I am running an su-9 pro which I am absolutely in love with, but I am about to build another bedroom difference. Diminishing marginal value aside, do you prefer your SU-10 a lot more than your SU-9? Or if you have an SU-X I would be keen to know more too

Totally agree that only a proper preamplifier can help to deliver decent sound quality 👌👌good review, thank you ✌😎✌

Great channel.

These are very nice DACS however I have read more reports of failures/dead on arrival with SMSL DACs than nearly all other brands and this is a pain to deal with unless you live in China

Nice review! any plans to review the Holo Audio Spring/May DACs, particularly the KTE version, seeing quite a craze for these.

Thanks for your reviews. I really enjoyed them. Between the SMSL SU9 Pro, SU10 and DO300, which is your favorite DAC out of these three?

Hi, please review the new SMSL VMV D1SE2

How is this in Comparison to VMV D1se. Thank you for all your great reviews and Video's!

Great review as always 👍. How does the SU-10 compare to the SMSL VMV D1se?

if the preference is not focusing to fine details of the music (bassline, timbres, whatever), but simply sit down, lean back and expecting to feel a three dimensional soundstage that makes you smile and you can immerse yourself in the music. I mean like to get a feeling that the soundstage feels even wider than my room. Or to feel that the speakers disappear in the music... Then is any of these DACs capable of doing that? Or is there a DAC in lower range that can already produce somewhat this feeling. Or we are far from it still?

I really enjoy your reviews and respect the work you do. So, don't take my words as offensive in any way. The amount of chinese DACs that are coming into the market by the day is just ludicrous. I'm not referring to the market strategy, of which I'm not an expert, but to the idea that such devices are really associated with major improvements in sound quality. Watching your videos over the last couple of months I always feel like I should try these DACs that produce such incredible SQ (soundstage, imaging, detail, tonal balance, etc, etc). If one takes these reviews at face value, it would lead us to the conclusion that the lastest DACs are almost magical and a game changer. In fact, I suspect that 95% (or something like it) of the sound qualities you're describing are due to your amplification and speaker system. This is what REALLY configures the sound signature of an HIFI system, IMHO. Dacs are also important but well designed and manufactured DACs (most of them are these days) won't make big changes to the sound signature of an HIFI system. This will happpen primarily by changing the speakers and then the amplification part of it. So, in pratical terms, what I'm saying is that describing how DACs sound without proper context of the entire system is not that meaninful. Comparing DACs within the same HIFI system is ok, provided you state HOW MUCH that changes or improves the SQ, not just HOW. For example, I have an Hegel H120 (Roon Ready) and Revel Performa M3 106 speakers and like the sound signature of this rig, especially for acoustic music. I also have an external combo of iFi Zen Stream+Ifi Zen Signature V2, connected to the Hegel Analog inputs. To my hears Roon sounds slightly better using the external combo, a tad more relaxed and a little less bright. But it's a minor difference, although the Hegel and the Ifi are very different DACs. The same goes for using the internal DAC of my REGA Apollo CD player (Wolfson) or the internal Hegel DAC (AKM). I prefer the latter, but just! So, sometimes I ask myself "would one of these more expensive DACs (like the SU-10) make a big difference in SQ in my system? is it worth the additional cost?" My guess is that it might yield an improvement but just a minor one, because the Amp+Speakers, as well as the room, are really defining the sound signature of my system. Then comes the next problem. Why would I buy this DAC now if SMSL already has new DACs (with AKM and ESS chips) that look even more technological advanced in the market, at around the same price point, let alone so many other brands? Sorry for the long post and thanks. Cheers

In this hobby you can have 2 speakers for every amp but 10 dacs for every amp you have.

600 euro's difference between musician pegasus and su-10 in my country. I can't imagine the sound will be 600 euro better.

Part with removing protector foil is the best.....yeeessss

How much better is this then SMSl M400 and VMV D1SE into SA400?

Will you be reviewing the D400EX? I'd be really interested how that one compares to the SU-10 and the Gustard A26.

Surprisingly it seems you have never reviewed the RME ADI-2 DAC FS. I am trying to decide between it and the SMSL SU-10. I would love your thoughts? I second the many compliments, grate channel.

Thanks.

I believe the sound colour modes are not DSP. They seem to be a great advantage in order to tailor the dac's sound to your system. Did they actually make a difference? Was the difference artificial or natural sounding? Thank you very much for your time and your fine analysis sir.

Hey, no need to feel embarrassed about the "Voices of love" album. I checked it out and some of the tracks are great -- I have discovered Julienne Taylor from it, for example. You've also helped me discover Rodrigo y Gabriella. I don't give a monkeys what anyone else thinks about the music I like. All that matters is that _I_ like it, and I daresay it's the same for anyone else. Good lord, I even like some tracks by Aled Jones (try his version of Amazing Grace, which contains a really nice slide guitar solo). An idea for a video from you one time when the gear isn't flowing in might be an episode devoted to your favourite music, which is after all in the end what the hobby is all about. It'd tell me more about you as a person as opposed to a reviewer, and might help me discover other musical gems. You didn't mention comparison with the Aune x8 + Sparkos combo, which I'd find interesting as that now resides in my main system. Not as if I'd change it for the SU-10 because the Aune is good enough for me, but just, like I said, out of idle curiosity.

Hi! Thank you for the excellent reviews. Could you review one or two dacs from Nuprime ? Something that would be from another culture, and it would be interesting to hear from you how do they sound/compare in the context of Smsl or Topping... Have a nice day !

Most of these advantages you mentioned are due to the higher output voltage ...

First of all this has the highest SINAD in ASR forum my question how does it compare with SMSL SU-X This has both dual chips and similar power supply

Great review again! Is it possible to compare or make any comments about SMSL SU-10 versus Topping E50? An owner of a Topping D90 SE and previously of an E50 told me that, due the price difference, despite a wider soundstage of the D90SE, it not worth the upgrade. Also, I do not have a "perfect" room to listen aventual nuances of this and that, so, if not a great upgrate, I realize that I´d have to agree with my friend. Thank you in advance.

Waiting on your Hidizs XO

please help me to. decide smsl su-10 or something else to add to s17pro and he1000se? one year later you affirm that lampucera is the best dac you've ever tried but in this video your emotion is palpable. i'm a musician and i need microdinamic and textur and not muffled sound, the most musical amp i listened to is my diy dht 45 valve amp so generally i exitate in front of such thiese "sterile" objects

Is the M500 MK III review coming soon?

Great content as usual! How would you compare this to Aune X8 XVIII with the Sparkos op-amps; you seemed to be very enthusiastic about the latter. Thanks.

I share your disgust of protective film etc left on devices and had to laugh at those comments you made.

Great video as always. Please can you advise whether the SU-10 is a better option to pair with my Audio Gd Master 19 than the Aune S8 or EverSolo Z8?

Hello! Am I the only one who doesn't hear a difference between each "sound color" settings? I have pretty good ears, and my hi-fi system is quite decent, but no matter how I listen, I can't hear anything noticeable. All presets are somehow the same. Does anyone hear any difference by changing the "sound color" settings? I know the fact that it's all based on added second and third harmonic distortion, which some say is good, others say bad... I also have an SMSL DAC, an SU-10, and I love it. I tried with several types of music and with really high-quality audio materials. What did I do wrong? Surely there is such an audible difference between "rich" and "tube" and "crystal" settings? If so, what can I do to hear it? What should I pay attention to? Or maybe my device is faulty if I can't hear anything in the "sound color" settings, because really the differences in sound should be so obvious?

I have been waiting for the SU-10 to get out there for people to listen to and comment! Another great video. Interesting comparison between the D90, M500 and SU-10. All use the same DAC chip (E9038PRO) and the same OPAMPs (OP1612A) whilst only the SU-10 has the newer XMOS 316 chip set. Could that be the difference? Is it the number of OPAMPs (and hence design) of the output stage? The D90 has only one DAC chip whilst the others have 2 - could that be it? I can only suppose....

DPLL setting at minimal is too warmth, there is a sudden changes from level 2 for some reason. Level 2 is very good with more details and engaging.

How do those mid range dacs perform when idle? Don't they consume too much power compared to a mojo 2 for a 24/7 pc ? Are there smaller versions of high quality dacs only to drive high end iems ?

In Tharbamar's test sound sample, Topping had better dynamics and transients. These are all just matters of taste, where synenergy with other equipment is important. Is the rest of your equipment lean and analytical or lush and thick. However, the dac should only be transparent, which does not color the sound in any direction. If it's like this, the only differences are soundstage, transients and dynamics.

How does it compare to the Qutest? I own one and love it except for the fact that it could use a bit more slam.

The cut away showing the 2 transformers smashed together and in the same orientation made me shudder a little bit. Throwing high end parts at something doesn't necessarily mean the layout and implementation is done well. This does look like a versatile little DAC has all the inputs and outputs even AES and I2S.

What about a comparison between SMSL SU-10 and SMSL D400 EX which are in the same price range but use different chips (ESS Vs AKM)?

Thank you for the review! Do you like it better than the Qutest?

You really have to review ifi neo idsd. I have that and things its really good for price. Would love to know How it compare to smsl, topping, ares 2 and so on.

I guess if you add a DDC or the topping usb bridge these dacs they can come close or beat the Gustard r26 or Pegasus. I personally tried the r26 in my system and didn’t care for it.

iiWi - great reviews... thank you... How does it compare to the new S.M.S.L D400EX which uses dual AK4499EX? Last question: if you connect it to Sonor AMP - does Sonos Amp is capable to amplify the highly resolved signal without losing the resolution?

Glad to see a defeatable display!

Hi like your reviews bought this and the xlr s are upside down ground is up ? Was your unit like that ? Ty this dac is really good as it out shines my ps audio direct stream dac . Ty

They also raise 2x the price.. but, but...does sound twice as good as it older brother su-9 pro? Apparently slightly but 2x the price. Hmmm....

I think my advice to SMSL - is to keep going with their current models - and *stop* changing them. And it seems like delta sigma has really come of age - my current reference DAC is the Geshelli Labs J2 AKM (with a LPS). It is definitely better than my Ares II in every way *including* soundstage depth and width, and layering. In fact, I suspect it is as good or better than the SU-10, based on your comparison with the Pegasus. Edit: the only lack of this SMSL SU-10 for me would be that it doesn't have a second coax connection. And this is why I am still hoping for a way to get a J2 AKM into your hands for you to review - it costs just $250US with S/PDIF inputs, and $300 if you want/need a USB input. Add about $75-100 or so for a decent LPS, and I think it is a giant killer.

Loved your “fat man walking” metaphor. Great review.

Would like to hear your take on the VMV A2 amp, if possible.

“You won’t confuse me with your fast music, no sir!….” Lol! ❤ PS Does the I2s pinout work with your Mercury streamer? Hope so. Considering this one as an upgrade from my Topping D70s (not a dealbreaker if no) 🙏🏼

you say this now that it has raised the bar and within a onth or two another raising of the bar ... and on and on it goes, a never ending chase of the dragon's tail

Hi, i really enjoy all your reviews. Thank you for your great work. In fact i go back and girth between your different reviews of different dacs to get an idea of the despite their differing price points. I understand mid/treble/tonality and soundstage is the key focus of every review as they are very important. However may i ask about bass impact/extension/rumble diferences between su10, e70ess/velvet, and d90le specifically. Which of them has the beepest sub bass impact, extension and reverb/rumble. Please feel free to mention any other dac that excels in bass other than the ones i have mentioned regardless of price. Thanks very much.

Is there big difference with SMSL D300?

Will I buy a DAC today that costs $2000 or below? I doubt that. Why am I watching lots of similar reviews, still? Precisely hoping to find "a rare overachiever," or how they are also called "giant killer." I am interested in DACs that rival highly regarded, most probably the R2R DACs in the $6000 - $12000 category BUT COST $3000 - $5000! Please let me know if I need to be corrected, but I am sure: a DAC that even costs $3000 today can't be at a level of a $6000 DAC. The most that a $1000 DAC can achieve today, IMHO, is to rival the $2000 DACs. But who knows? The industry is developing fast, and this great review confirms that. Such a DAC will pop up on the market tomorrow, and even a $3000 DAC could appear to rival a $6000 one.

I have parasound p6/A21+ amp swith Arendal 1723 towers. P6 already has ess sabre dac. Thinking of trying another dac. Already a very neutral sounding system. Thoughts on SMSL su-10?

How does it compare with Gustard R26?

SU-10 vs Aune Magic with Sparkos Op Amp? Not quite fair with the aftermarket OP Amp but can a $400 package compete? Great review as always.

Thank you for your review, very detailed. But i gain another question from this review..(since the review i assume is based on default settings). Can smsl SU-10 with its all filters available for tailoring the sound, including those in brackets(cristal, tube, rich, sampling modes, etc.) be close to Ares 2 in terms of its liquidity, organic sound signature, warmth, detail?I guess the question is between these two Dacs, since both units have filters to play (smsl has obviously more) by applying those, can one or another be compensating some of its weaknesses? As example Smsl is Delta sigma, and would probably still have "residue" of digital realm, can those be mostly "defeated" by applying one of those tube warms filters? Ares 2 operating always in oversampling mode (even when in NOS), but when putting it in OS mode and its sharp filters, (or slow filters) can it bring more dynamics to life? would be very much appreciated for the answer. Thank you!

Thanks, Srbo. I wonder how my D1SE would compare. Still absolutely LOVING the R26!

Wow, in Hungary this unit costs almost 1200EUR :(

all these DACs differences are very subtle. I pay no attention to these subtle differences. Instead I enjoy the music not the DAC

나이쓰 ^^ 항상 재미있고 즐겁게 감상 합니다!!!!!! 앞으로도 장비소개 많이 해주세요

Hi, have you had a chance to review the SMSL D400EX? Appreciate if you could share some thoughts..

LOL, ya I usually leave those tape covers

Will SMSL SU-10 be a good combination with Unison Research Unico Nuovo?

Great review thank you! Are you still using the Acoustic Invader as a prestage. are there any other you would recomend? Best regards from Sweden